Food Waste Challenge Provides Market Opportunities for Innovators
Approximately 133 billion pounds of food produced in the United States went uneaten in 2010 (Buzby, 2014). This adds up to a 31 percent food loss at both the retail and consumer levels and has far-reaching social, economic, and environmental ramifications (NRDC, 2012). In the December issue of Food Technology magazine published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), contributing writers Elise Golan, PhD, director of sustainable development, Office of the Chief Economist, USDA and Jean C. Buzby, PhD, chief of the Diet, Safety and Health Economic Branch in the USDA Economic Research Service write about how food waste in the U.S. represents a market opportunity worth over $160 billion for innovators who can reduce this waste and its impact.